Uganda’s National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has partnered with telecom firm MTN as it seeks to increase the number of people saving for retirement with the pension scheme.

The partnership is set to benefit mid-size companies that remit less than Ush4 million (about $1,100), which now have the option of sending their contributions through mobile money platform instead of bank deposits.

Individual savers will also gain from the deal as they too can use the *165*3*4# code and follow the prompts to make their payments.

“An instant confirmation message will be received on the recipient’s number within 24 hours when a member makes his/her monthly contribution,” said Richard Byarugaba, the NSSF managing director.

NSSF hopes that more people from the informal sector will join its voluntary membership plan as the mobile money platform will cut down on the time-consuming process of remitting contributions through banks.

Mr Byarugaba said the new payment method was reached at after a survey, conducted last year on voluntary savers, showed that 67 per cent of respondents preferred mobile money platforms in making payments.